ave [Text, p. 329, fig. 434, fib. 437]. In England, the flying buttress appears almost as an “afterthought” where verticality is not as important. {English Gothic style emphasizes a “long, low, sprawling” character compared to the compact, vertical of French Gothic. [Text. P. 336]) Flying Buttresses also made the personification of Gothic art possible, as it allowed for almost no structure support in the walls. The flying buttress lends the interior illusion of being “amazingly airy and weightless” because the masonry supports are hidden and visible only from the outside. Since flying buttresses are perpendicular to the walls, intervening wall spaces could be “opened” up between the buttresses. As the walls were thinner, stained glass windows gradually came to replace masonry. Later Gothic cathedrals appear to be only thin skeletal frames of masonry. Wall surfaces of High Gothic churches thus have the appearance of transparent and weightless curtains. The spiritual and mysterious quality of light is an important element of the religious symbolism of Gothic cathedrals.].While the stained, colored glass windows of this period gave the churches novel lighting affects, they did not make the churches “lighter” (the glass was heavily colored). While the use of stained glass was limited during the Romanesque period, the first extensive use as in the rebuilding of St. Denis. As cathedrals became taller and wider, windows became larger to allow more space for stained glass...
